immigration

On September 13, 2017, California legislators passed California Bill AB 450, also known as the Immigrant Worker Protection Act (“the Act”). The Act is one of three immigration bills currently awaiting Governor Jerry Brown’s approval or veto.[1]

The Act imposes specific restrictions on employers in instances where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) agents seek access to their workplaces for immigration enforcement. Specifically, the Act prohibits employers from (1) voluntarily consenting to allow an ICE agent to enter nonpublic areas of the workplace absent a judicial warrant; and (2) voluntarily consenting to allow an ICE agent to access, review, or obtain employee records, absent a subpoena or a court order.

Additionally, the Act requires employers to (1) post written notice[2] of an immigration agency’s intent to audit employee records, including I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification forms, within 72 hours of the employer receiving notice of such an inspection; and (2) following an immigration agency’s audit, provide each employee who was found to lack work authorization with a copy of the written results of the inspection within 72 hours of the employer’s receipt.

Violations of the Act may result in a civil penalty of between two thousand dollars ($2,000) and five thousand dollars ($5,000) for a first violation and between five thousand dollars ($5,000) and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each subsequent violation, to be enforced by the Labor Commissioner or the Attorney General. All penalties recovered under the Act shall be deposited in the Labor Enforcement and Compliance Fund.

At this time, the ultimate constitutionality of the Act is uncertain under Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, 563 U.S. 582 (2011), in view of the steep monetary penalties it threatens to impose.

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[1] California legislators also recently passed the California Values Act (which is intended to prevent law enforcement officials from questioning and detaining individuals based on immigration violations alone) and the Immigrant Tenant Protection Act (which prohibits landlords from reporting or threatening to report the immigration status of their tenants as a form of retaliation or to prompt an eviction.)

[2] No later than July 1, 2018, the Labor Commissioner will release a template to assist employers in complying with the notice posting requirements imposed by the Act.

We will start the day with two morning Plenary Sessions. The first session is kicked off with Philip A. Miscimarra, Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

We are thrilled to welcome back speakers from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Marc Freedman and Katie Mahoney will speak on the latest policy developments in Washington, D.C., that impact employers nationwide during the second plenary session.

Morning and afternoon breakout workshop sessions are being led by attorneys at Epstein Becker Green – including some contributors to this blog! Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Chai R. Feldblum, will be making remarks in the afternoon before attendees break into their afternoon workshops. We are also looking forward to hearing from our keynote speaker, Bret Baier, Chief Political Anchor of FOX News Channel and Anchor of Special Report with Bret Baier.

The looming prospect of a Government shutdown will have a significant impact on the immigration process. Activities of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be largely unaffected because it is funded by the fees it collects. The shutdown, however, may affect the ability of applicants to secure the government information required to respond to Requests for Evidence.

On March 8, 2013, the USCIS published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that it had recently revised the Employment Eligibility Verification form (“Form I-9”), and that employers must start using this new form by May 7, 2013. Employers using prior versions of the Form I-9 on or after May 8, 2013, will violate the law and be subject to worksite enforcement fines and other penalties.